Latest news with #ResidentDoctors
BBC News
3 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
NHS doctors' strike: Health secretary and BMA to meet next week
Talks between Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association (BMA) will take place next week in a bid to avert strike action in England's NHS, the BBC doctors, previously known as junior doctors, announced earlier this week that they will walk out for five consecutive days from 25 July until 30 July over a dispute about pay with the BMA said strikes would only be called off if next week's talks produce an offer it can put to its government has insisted it cannot improve its offer of a 5.4% increase for this year. Resident doctors were awarded a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year - which will go into pay packets from August - following a 22% increase over the previous two they are arguing that pay in real terms is still around 20% lower than it was in 2008 and have called for the government to set out a pathway to restoring its believe that this year's 5.4% increase doesn't take them far enough down that department sources have told the BBC the health secretary is sympathetic to improving working conditions for resident doctors, but he won't budge on the BMA's strike announcement, Streeting called the strike "unnecessary and unreasonable", adding: "The NHS is hanging by a thread - why on earth are they threatening to pull it?"He said the government was "ready and willing" to work with the BMA, but any further strike action would be a disaster for patients and push back the progress made in reducing waiting lists in resident doctor committee co-chairs, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said on Wednesday they had been left with "no choice" but to strike without a "credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay".Lord Robert Winston, a professor and TV doctor who was a pioneer of IVF treatment, resigned from the BMA on Friday over the planned an interview with The Times, he urged against strike action and said it could damage people's trust in the doctors took part in 11 separate strikes during 2023 and order to end the previous strikes last year the incoming Labour government awarded a backdated increase worth 22% over two action in England will not affect resident doctors in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, who negotiate directly with their devolved governments on doctors' basic salaries in England range from £37,000 to £70,000 a year for a 40-hour week, depending on experience, with extra payments for working nightshifts and does not include the latest 5.4% average pay award for this year which will start to be paid into wage packets from August.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Crunching the data: are resident doctors in England badly paid?
Resident doctors in England have voted to strike for five days from 25 July, reigniting one of the NHS's most bitter industrial disputes. At the heart of the row is pay: the British Medical Association (BMA) says resident (formerly known as junior) doctors have seen their real earnings fall by more than a quarter since 2008. The government says the union's demands are unaffordable, and they've already received generous rises in recent years. So are strikes an 'unnecessary and unreasonable' move, in the words of the health secretary, Wes Streeting? Or a necessary step on the path to restore doctor's pay? After the global financial crisis of 2007-08, pay stagnated across the board in Britain. But resident doctors have had it worse than most. The average private sector worker now earns 7.5% more than they did in August 2010, when taking into account inflation (including housing costs and council tax rises). However, resident doctors' pay was still down 10.2% as of March this year. An average pay rise of 5.4% was awarded for this year, which will start appearing in wage slips next month. But even with that uplift, pay will still be below 2010 levels. Resident doctors are fully qualified in medicine but still undergoing postgraduate training. Their pathway starts with foundation training, before moving on to core training in a broad area, and then into training in a specific specialty of medicine, for example surgery. They aren't the only NHS workers who have seen their pay cut in real terms. Recent pay rises for residents means that consultants and nurses have seen proportionally larger cuts than some training levels – though different training levels have seen different cuts in their real-terms pay over the years. The BMA has said that real-terms pay for resident doctors has fallen by nearly 21% in the past 17 years – but their calculations use a measure of inflation called RPI. RPI is considered an outdated measure of inflation, and statisticians avoid using it. The government prefers a newer measure called CPI (the charts above use a similar measure – CPIH – which takes into account rising prices, as well as housing and council tax costs). RPI is generally higher than CPI – giving the unions a larger pay cut figure than government estimates. However, the government can't take the moral high ground here – it still uses RPI for several official calculations, including when calculating interest on the student loans that most resident doctors will be paying back each month. The chart below shows how using different measures of inflation, as well as different dates of comparison, can benefit either side in negotiations. It's impossible to compare the salary of resident doctors to other countries because different healthcare systems involve different training programmes. Pensions and other work benefits also differ between countries. There is some limited data comparing the pay of medical specialists – which includes consultants – but some countries such as the US and Australia are missing data for salaried professionals. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development had a go at comparing specialist doctor pay across countries – with the year 2020 being the latest estimates that included England. The figure shows that England is near the top of the pack (after taking into account how much things cost in different countries), but several countries including Germany and Ireland paid more. The figures line up with separate OECD data showing that the NHS has a relatively high rate of doctors moving abroad, with at least one in 10 UK-trained doctors practising abroad in the last five years. The BMA chair, Tom Dolphin, has said pay rises would help keep this figure down. Which countries are these UK-trained doctors going to? Figures from the General Medical Council found Australia was the most common destination for doctors leaving to practise outside the UK in 2023, followed by New Zealand, Ireland and Canada. However, the NHS is good at recruiting from overseas to replace leavers – 42% of doctors in the English NHS had a primary medical qualification from another country in 2023.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
NHS doctors are preparing to strike - how much do they earn compared to other countries?
Resident doctors have announced a five-day strike after the British Medical Association (BMA) rejected the government's 5.4 per cent pay uplift. Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned the move could break the NHS, saying: 'The public won't see why, after a 28.9 per cent pay rise, you would still walk out on strike, and neither do I.' The walkout will run from Friday, 25 July, until the following Wednesday, with further strikes threatened every month until January unless their pay demands are met. But just under half (49.7 per cent) of eligible BMA members supported the strike, with 44 per cent not voting at all and a fraction voting against. Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, are qualified doctors in their first years of training. A fifth are completing their first two foundation years, while the remainder are in core or speciality registrar training. The newly agreed salary for those on foundation training is between £38,831 and £44,439, with specialist training salaries rising to £73,992. That includes the 5.4 per cent increase awarded earlier this year, but does not include London weighting. But the BMA wants pay boosted to between £47,308 and £54,274 for foundation doctors, and up to a maximum of £90,989 for residents in specialist training at the highest end, over a flexible negotiated period. It is estimated that every 0.1 per cent pay rise across the NHS will cost an extra £125 million each year, according to the NHS Confederation. While the pay rise being requested is only for resident doctors, who account for 75,000 of the workforce, the difference between what the BMA is requesting and what is currently paid could cost millions or even billions. How much are residents paid compared to other doctors? Resident doctors' current salary of between £38,831 and £44,439 a year is for a 40-hour week, and does not include extra pay for working more hours or night shifts, which varies significantly per person. Doctors in core or specialist training can earn £52,656 a year, going on to earn up to £73,992 a year at the highest end. The government has said that this sits at around an average of £54,300 across resident doctors of all stages of training. Meanwhile, consultants, who have specialist knowledge in a particular medical field, earn a basic salary of between £105,504 and £139,882 a year. After two years of foundation training, it generally takes around five to eight more years before doctors can become eligible for consultant roles, though the wait can be longer. Nurses start at a lower salary band, around £31,049 for a newly-qualified nurse, according to the Agenda for Change. This can go up to £54,710 for ward managers, and £96,0000 for the most senior specialist nurses. Dentists employed by the NHS start at £42,408 a year and progress to £94,000 for the most senior roles and £105,000 for dental consultants. This puts resident doctors in a similar starting range to dentists, and 22 per cent higher than nurses. How far is pay behind inflation? Inflation is central to the BMA's demands, arguing that even after the uplift, pay for resident doctors has been eroded by 20.9 per cent since 2008. With the current 5.4 per cent uplift, the BMA says doctors won't see their pay restored for 12 years, or until 2036. Instead, resident doctors are seeking a 29 per cent pay rise, which Mr Streeting has called 'completely unreasonable'. However, the BMA's figures are calculated using retail prices index (RPI) inflation, which is no longer used as a national statistic. This includes factors such as housing prices, council tax, and mortgage rates. Using the official measure of inflation, consumer prices index (CPI), the Nuffield Trust calculated that doctors' pay has fallen by a more moderate 4.7 per cent in the same period. In cash terms, excluding inflation, foundation-year resident doctors have seen a substantial pay boost in recent years. First year foundation doctors were paid just £29,384 in 2022; which means the new 5.4 per cent uplift amounts to an overall 32 per cent pay rise on that figure. While 2022 saw a four-decade-high rate of inflation, and doctors' salaries had already been falling behind, this is a more sizeable increase than seen by other public sectors. Nurses, for example, have seen starting salaries rise by just 14.8 per cent in the same period, less than half the rate of resident doctors. Doctors' pay compared to other public sectors Doctors and medical staff provide essential public services. So, how does their pay compare to police and firefighters? According to the Firefighters Union (FU), a trainee will earn around £28,265 a year, bumped up to £37,675 once they become a fully 'competent' firefighter in 1-3 years. At this point, overtime is paid at £25.80 per hour. Firefighters generally work a two-day, two-night shift pattern, with four days off in between. The highest salary for 'area manager' firefighters is at £69,283, according to the FU; not including London weighting. Meanwhile, figures from the Police Federation suggest that constables begin on £29,907 a year (without London weighting), rising to £48,000 for the highest pay band. Chief Inspectors can earn as much as £72,700 in London at the highest range. This suggests that resident doctors start at a moderately higher salary range, with more potential for upward movement. But comparing these fields of work is a challenge. Doctors must complete several years of medical school before qualifying. This saddles many doctors with debt before entering the workforce - something which is not a requirement for other emergency services, including firefighters and police. Low doctor pay compared to other countries In France, most doctors are self-employed, except for a minority who are directly employed by hospitals. Starting salaries are already expected to be around £3,400 per month, tallying at £40,800 a year. The average salary for a general practitioner is £84,000, according to data from the public health service. This can go up to as high as £350,000 for radiotherapists. In Canada, low starting salaries for doctors are around £46,000, according to national data. But average salaries sit around £122,000, with peak pay at £236,000 a year. The US has the highest salaries for doctors overall, with significant variation by state. Since private healthcare pay is unstandardised, it is hard to directly compare starting salaries. But resident doctors in the US are paid on average between £51,000 and £86,000, according to Glassdoor, with some surgeons earning upwards of £500,000 a year. It is important to note that the NHS is relatively unique because it is funded by the taxpayer. Canada has a similar system, which covers 70 per cent of healthcare spending, known as Medicare. Most doctors are paid in a fee-for-service model, not a set salary. France has a reimbursement model where patients mostly pay upfront, and may be partially or fully refunded by the state. And the US has some form of free health insurance, known as Medicaid; but this covers a shrinking fraction of the population. Ultimately, doctors are privately paid through forms of insurance, even if the state subsidises some healthcare. In this way, the UK is somewhat unique in how the taxpayer shoulders the burden of public healthcare salaries, excluding private doctors.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Junior doctors' pay demands would fund 30,000 nurses
Junior doctors' pay demands would fund an 31,000 extra nurses, Telegraph analysis shows. The medics, who are now known as resident doctors, want a 29.2 per cent pay rise and have announced a five-day strike starting on July 25. But the pay rise would cost the Government at least £1.1 billion, the Telegraph can reveal, even before employer National Insurance or pension contributions. This would be equivalent to hiring an extra 31,000 nurses for the NHS, based on their average salary of £36,559 a year, figures from NHS Digital show. The NHS had outlined an ambition to hire 190,000 more nurses by 2036 in its long-term workforce plan, published in 2023, although this is set to be updated later this year. The money could also fund one of the brand new, state-of-the-art hospitals planned by the Government. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has refused to negotiate on doctors' pay for this year after they received an average 5.4 per cent pay rise – the highest in the public sector for the second year in a row – having agreed a 22.3 per cent increase with the Government in September. He also said the planned walkout in just two weeks' time is 'completely unreasonable' and was leaving the 'NHS recovery hanging by a thread'. 'No trade union in British history has seen its members receive a 28.9 per cent pay rise only to immediately respond with strikes, and the majority of BMA resident doctors didn't vote to strike,' he said. The British Medical Association (BMA) has said it would reverse the real-terms cuts to wages since 2008. The demanded pay rise comes as the Government deals with major setbacks with its tax and spending policy, which have been exacerbated by recent rowbacks on welfare reforms. Analysis suggests that any significant pay rises, which have not been budgeted, would swallow up the savings from these changes. A £1.1 billion pay rise would be twice as much as the £450 million the Government now expects to save from its watered-down Winter Fuel Payment cut. The proposed figure would also wipe out half of the £2 billion the Government expected to save through last week's cuts to disability welfare, which divided the Labour Party and highlighted the Treasury's inability to make meaningful spending cuts in the public sector. Pay in line with inflation Between March 2023 and March 2025, the average base pay for junior doctors increased by up to 23 per cent, according to figures from NHS Digital. The pay rise, equivalent to almost £10,000 for the most senior staff, was double the 11 per cent increase seen by nurses and ambulance staff's 10 per cent over the same period. Currently, junior doctors are in line for a further 5.4 per cent increase in the current financial year, to be backdated in August. However, the BMA is instead calling for a rise of around 15 per cent this year and a similar increase next year to reverse what they say has been over a decade's worth of real-term cuts. The union says that since 2008, doctors have seen a 20.9 per cent cut to wages, when inflation is accounted for. However, the BMA uses the Retail Price Index (RPI) method of inflation to calculate this sum, which is no longer used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Using the ONS's preferred measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), base pay for junior doctors has remained broadly in line with inflation since 2010, when NHS Digital started producing average pay figures. A 29.2 per cent increase in pay would take a first-year doctor's pay from £33,968 per year to £43,819, a £9,851 pay rise that would make it more than ten per cent higher than the average national full-time wage. For speciality registrars, the most senior role, it would take their average base pay to £72,668 – a pay increase of £16,336. This is before overtime, geographic adjustments and on-call payments are accounted for, which can represent up to 25 per cent of final pay. Additionally, resident doctors are given a generous 'defined benefit' pension scheme worth up to 75 per cent of their salaries in retirement. Regardless, resident doctors have spoken about their profession being a 'crucial crossroads'. 'Doctors don't take industrial action lightly – but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away,' the BMA's representative for junior doctors said in response to the strike. Similar to nurses, the NHS's long-term workforce plan says an additional 74,000 doctors are needed over the next decade. Downing Street has stated they will not reopen negotiations on pay, stating 'that they can't be more generous than we already have this year'. Last week, a major parliamentary rebellion fuelled another reversal on disability-related benefits, wiping £3 billion from potential savings. Meanwhile, the Government has handed out inflation-busting pay rises to public sector employees in their first year of power which have eclipsed those savings. In July 2024, shortly after the election, they handed out pay increases of between 4.75 per cent and 6 per cent for the 2024-2025 year, costing an additional £9.4 billion to the Treasury. This year, pay rises of between 4 per cent and 5.4 per cent were handed out to staff. Economists estimate that the Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing a £20 billion black hole in government spending, with warnings that increased taxation would be needed to help fuel the pay rises and weakened welfare cuts.
Daily Mail
01-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Doctors threaten co-ordinated strikes to bring NHS to standstill despite Labour begging them to accept inflation-busting pay offers
Doctors are threatening co-ordinated industrial action to bring the NHS to an effective standstill unless pay demands are met. Resident doctors - previously known as junior doctors - have suggested they will work together with consultants and specialists to maximise the impact. The move comes as a ballot is held over strikes that could last six months in England, despite Health Secretary Wes Streeting begging medics to accept inflation-busting pay offers. Mr Streeting said walkouts should be the last resort, with warnings they would be 'immensely disruptive for patient care'. He pointed out that the average 5.4 per cent award for resident doctors is the highest in the public sector. They controversially claim wages have fallen 23 per cent in real terms since 2008. 'I met twice with Resident Doctors in May and at the last meeting I offered to meet their entire committee. I can't offer a higher pay increase: resident doctors have the highest pay award in the entire public sector. These are not grounds that warrant strike action,' Mr Streeting said. The co-chairs of the British Medical Association (BMA) resident doctors committee are calling on members to vote for strikes. Mr Streeting said walkouts should be the last resort, with warnings they would be 'immensely disruptive for patient care' Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt told The Sunday Times that consultants and specialty and associate specialist (SAS) doctors could work together over their separate disputes. Dr Ryan, who works in Nottingham, said: 'We know how much the strikes last time were disruptive to patient care and the waiting list, but we also know exactly how much they cost the government and it was more than what it would cost to get to full pay restoration. 'Resident doctors are balloting for strike action but now you've got the consultant committee and you've got the SAS doctors also in a pay dispute with the Government. 'So last time we ended up co-ordinating some action and it was immensely disruptive for patient care, and we can see that on the horizon for this Government too.' 'We will have a mandate that runs from the end of July to the beginning of January 2026,' she continued. 'I am hoping that we will never get to the point where we have to take strike action but… we have three grades of doctors that are in pay disputes with the Government and there could be terrible disruption if the Government doesn't intervene soon.' Dr Nieuwoudt, a resident doctor in Liverpool, claimed Mr Streeting has become unwilling to engage. '(He) seems to have gone from being the guy that was saying, 'Get in the room; talk it out; solve the problem,' to the guy that's not even willing to have that conversation with us,' he told the newspaper. A recent YouGov poll found that 48 per cent of Britons oppose resident doctors going on strike, while 39 per cent support them taking action. YouGov said this 'marks a shift in opinion' of public support of striking junior doctors last summer, when the majority of Britons – 52 per cent – said they supported the action. It highlighted how Labour supporters were most supportive of strike action, with Conservatives expressing the strongest opposition. Resident doctors said their pay has declined by '23 per cent in real terms since 2008'. If they vote to strike, walkouts could begin in July and could potentially last until January 2026. The Government accepted salary recommendations from pay review bodies earlier this month, resulting in an average 5.4 per cent rise for resident doctors. A leading patients' organisation said it was 'deeply concerned' about the prospect of strike action in the NHS over the busy winter period. The Patients Association highlighted how previous strike action from doctors in training led to 1.3million appointments, procedures and operations being postponed, with the true figure 'likely to be much higher'. The BMA ballot is due to close on July 7.
